Many nations measure their success with economic figures like Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the market value of goods and services the country produces. Bhutan, a small country in the Himalayas between India and China, does things a little differently. In 1972, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck created GNH—Gross National Happiness.
Bhutan’s measurement comprises nine domains:
- Psychological Wellbeing
- Health
- Education
- Time Use
- Cultural Diversity and Resilience
- Good Governance
- Community Vitality
- Ecological Diversity and Resilience
- Living Standards
Happy people embrace challenges, act passionately, and take responsibility for their actions. In other words, happiness makes us more effective, too. We can’t be happy all the time, and fake happiness is no better than discontent. But happiness—our customers’ and our own—is a fundamental value all our activities should support.